


Broken and taped together again

by ElectricBoomerang



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 11:27:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12034920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricBoomerang/pseuds/ElectricBoomerang
Summary: That’s when he realizes, as he’s standing in the rain, thunder rumbling ominously overhead. David doesn’t break, because he’s already been broken beyond repair for a long, long time, but haphazardly taped back together over and over again anyways.Or: Max's perspective in the bonfire scene.





	Broken and taped together again

**Author's Note:**

> I marathoned the entire show last night, and I'm still not over the season one finale. I was thinking about it throughout my day and how surprised Max seemed about the whole thing, and then this happened.

“Well, David, you were right. This _is_ amazing,” Max says, and he can’t keep the smugness out of his voice.

  
“If I could just show you-” David tries to tell him, still trying to light that _fucking_ bonfire, before Max cuts him off.

  
“Do you really think a big campfire and some outdated- honestly kind of racist tradition, is going to make anyone care about _anything_?” he demands, but David doesn't respond, still trying to strike the flint and steel together. “No one gives a shit, David. Nobody wants to be here. God, it’s like you live in this stupid, make-believe world where _everything’s great!_ The universe doesn’t work that way, idiot! Just look around! It’s what I’ve been trying to show since day one,” Max rants. Why doesn’t he _get it yet?!_ “Life sucks, and we live in a world of desensitized, apathetic apathetic assholes,” he approaches David. “Why don’t you get with the program and stop giving a shit?”

  
David doesn’t offer a response, but from what Max can see, he looks pretty thoroughly beaten down. Maybe it’ll even take an extra day or two to get him back to his normal self this time. He’s like one of those goddamn kids’ toys, the ones that no matter how many times you try to knock down, bounces back. Considering his work here done, Max starts to saunter off.

  
“You’re right.”

  
“What?” he stops in his tracks.

  
“Times have changed. Whether I like it or not. The campers don’t care, _Gwen_ doesn’t care, even the founder of this place has better things to do,” David laments, and turns to Max, who stares up at him in a mix of shock and horror. He’s been trying to get this guy to wake up and smell the flowers for weeks now, to stop bugging him to look on the bright side. After a while, he realized that his goal was pretty much unattainable when he was trying to get the fucking _sun incarnate_ to crack, but that didn’t stop him from trying anyways. It quickly became less and less about trying to get him to snap, and more about a sense of routine. Antagonize David all day, watch him inexplicably bounce back as if nothing had happened. “That’s why I’ll never stop trying. Because _somebody fucking has to_.”

  
That’s when he realizes, as he’s standing in the rain, thunder rumbling ominously overhead. David doesn’t break, because he’s already been broken beyond repair for a long, long time, but haphazardly taped back together over and over again anyways.

  
His first thought is _This isn’t what I wanted._

  
_(What_ did _I want?)_

  
And as David goes back to trying to light the bonfire, Max glances back at the broken Sparrow. “David-”

  
“Go back to your tent, Max. You’ll just catch a cold,” David tells him, but it’s without that usual, horrible, godforsaken cheerfulness he usually possesses. Max never thought he’d miss it. David tries to strike the flint and steel again, but the steel breaks apart in his hand. A growl builds up in his throat as he says “Oh, give me a break!” and in his anger, smacks the bonfire.

  
It begins to pitch to the side, and Max can barely shout “David!” before it falls right on top of him.

  
It takes him a whole five minutes ( _five minutes too long_ ) to unbury David, and he refuses to admit that he’s crying by now. David’s got a nasty cut across his forehead, Max notices, wincing. _This is all my fault_.

  
He manages to drag David clear of the firewood, and stops to rest. _God_ , he’s heavy. He places his chin on his knees, watching David’s chest rise and fall, and Max has to admit, he finds it a little reassuring.

  
He’d suspected so many things about David the whole time he’d known him, from him secretly being a serial killer, to immortal, to an alien, to some unholy mix of all three. But never this.

  
Never _this_.

  
Never shattered, trying desperately to hold himself together for the sake of other people.

  
Max definitely doesn’t care about David, but he decides that he’s going to find whoever broke this guy, and punch them in the _fucking face_. Making David’s life miserable is his job, and he’s doing perfectly fine on his own, _thank you very much._


End file.
